before you start a war (you better know what you're fighting for)
by ecxelsior
Summary: "Unfortunately, we are." the blonde girl's voice was clear and defiant and it was startling how easily the sound of it filled him with irritation. "And that's not all you have to do. If you're playing with me, you aren't going to half ass this." an au where the only thing standing in between Percy Jackson and everything he's ever wanted is some blonde princess who thinks she owns
1. Chapter 1

Percy had been expecting pizza.

He was right in the middle of two shifts and starving beyond belief, so _excuse him_ for not being friendlier when he opened the door and two disgruntled looking strangers were staring back at him instead of cheese and pepperoni.

Strange people bothering you at inconvenient times was a staple of New York life, but he wasn't in the mood for a lecture about the true faith or the endless benefits to being vegan.

The wheelchair ridden man and blond girl in front of him were not people he'd met before and the intensity of the man's gaze was unsettling

"Uh―" he fixated on the graying face directly in front of him, grasping for the easiest way to end this interaction. "Jehovah's Witnesses usually have more success next door," he said, before pushing the door shut with his hand.

Usually, this signalled that he could go on with his day, but a hand jetted out and stopped his door from fully closing, and even the accompanying thud sounded foul tempered. He groaned and considered going for his mother's stash of pepper spray until he saw the man's well meaning smile. His face was fraught with the type of wrinkles people get from smiling, and retrospectively he probably shouldn't have slammed the door in the face of an old guy in a wheelchair.

"Percy Jackson?" he ventured "My name is Chiron, and I'd like you on my team."

 _That_ was not something he had been expecting. Part of him wanted to shove the door shut again and move on, but something about the earnest expression on Chiron's face was hard to avoid.

"You know, there are more efficient ways of inducting people into your cults. Maybe try for a shiny brochure next time."

A disbelieving scoff cut through the bemused silence Chiron offered him. Percy's gaze moved to the girl leaning against the bannister opposite him. She was wearing massive sunglasses with some college sweatshirt his dyslexia prevented him from recognizing, and was looking at him with thinly veiled disgust.

"Chiron, I _told_ you this was a waste of―" her voice cut off as Chiron placed his hand on her shoulder. Something about the way she shook her golden curls out in irritation seemed inexplicably familiar. Her face was still furrowed at him like he was something she found on the bottom of her shoe. He had been dealing with being looked down upon all his life, but for her to march up to his door in order to recruit him for whatever and still maintain her self-righteous attitude was beyond grating. Perhaps Chiron was more observant than Percy gave him credit for, because his interruption was the only thing that stopped Percy from offering a few choice words about where she could stick her superiority complex.

"Contrary to popular belief, Olympus University isn't a cult. Neither is our exy team."

Maybe this was some cruel dream, because there was no way in hell someone showed up at his apartment to talk about an Ivy League college. He took a gap year and was working two jobs just to save up for tuition at _community college_. Olympus University was legendary. It was the type of place someone like him would never enter, unless he was hired to clean it. Their exy team, the Spartans, had been plastered across every major sports channel for the last couple months. They were a consistent team, who rose consistently in the rankings for the last couple of years, and the addition of two first draft strikers last year was supposed to guarantee them a spot in the championship. There had been some drama that he hadn't cared enough to pay attention to that derailed their chances, and they were disqualified. Not a single sportscaster thought that they'd be able to recover, neither did most fans. Some people even thought that they would be demoted to Class II. Showing up here and asking him to join their team was proof of exactly how desperate they were.

"How did you even find me?" he asked "I'm pretty sure my high school exy coach didn't send tapes to colleges."

"He didn't have to. Your statistics speak for themselves."

Percy would be lying if he pretended he wasn't flattered. There was a point during high school where exy was the centerpoint of his life. Some of his friends even thought he was good enough to go pro one day. His subpar inner city school switched coaches right before his senior year, and Mrs. Dodds was quick to remind him that professional athletes didn't have learning disabilities or struggle to pay rent. He knew that no colleges received letters of recommendation or tapes of him playing, and an athletic scholarship would have been his only shot at continuing his education.

"Blondie's right." he admitted "You're wasting your time. College isn't something I can afford."

Chiron raised an eyebrow at that and took a thick enrollment packet out of his leather bag. Even its glossy pages looked too high class for Percy.

"We're offering you a full scholarship. All you have to do to qualify is sign on with the Spartans as a striker through graduation."

Percy almost choked. "You're not serious."

"Unfortunately, we are." the blonde girl's voice was clear and defiant and it was startling how easily the sound of it filled him with irritation. "And that's not all you have to do. If you're playing with me, you aren't going to half ass this."

"Annabeth, _enough_ ," Chiron scolded, "Try to refrain from scaring him off, please."

"Wait. _You're_ Annabeth Chase?" his voice sounded incredulous even to his own ears and if the flush that began to spread across her face was anything to go by, that wasn't a good sign. He probably should have surmised this sooner, but the girl in front of him was wearing ratty clothes and looked like she hadn't slept in a month. Annabeth Chase was a legend. The Princess of Exy. In interviews she always was dressed to perfection and was so confident he always imagined her with a tiara. The Annabeth Chase in front of him had all the bravado that was always advertised, but she seemed broken and exhausted.

He didn't miss the way her fists clenched after that comment, and the smile she shot him as she pushed her sunglasses up to her hairline was downright terrifying.

"This season is more important than you can comprehend," she ground out, "If you're on _my_ court you play by my rules. Don't sign on just because it's an out."

Her eyes met his in a silent challenge, and he swore to himself that he would do this, just to wipe that condescending look off her face.

"Trust me, princess. I can handle anything you throw at me." Perhaps it was the inner six year old in him, but he swore he heard cheering when she flicked her eyes away from his.

He grabbed the enrollment packet from Chiron's outstretched hands.

"When can I start?"


	2. Chapter 2

A lethargic haze spread over Percy as he stared out at the rapidly fading skyline of the city from the back of his cab. Olympus University's campus was located in upstate New York, and it was jarring to be so far from the city. He should've been thumbing through brochures and deciding on classes, but moving cars didn't bode well for his dyslexia. Instead, he focused on calming his nerves. He had spent the week after Chiron showed up at his doorstep habiting every Exy court in the neighborhood and watching games in between his last few shifts, but he knew he was nowhere near the skill level that collegiate Exy required. Chiron told him that the university board funded equipment for all players, but he brought his worn out old racquet, Riptide, anyways. The time that wasn't eaten away by work or exy, he reserved for learning about the Spartans. With twelve players including him, the team barely met the newly imposed minimum and functioned much differently than team he'd been on.

It had been a couple years since female players were anything of a shock, but not many people were thrilled about Annabeth Chase's rise to captain. Percy couldn't relate. She may have been a pompous know-it-all, but she obviously had the guts to lead the team. Most of the headlines the Spartans did make were due more to the loss of their former captain than any of their games. Luke Castellan was the team's other striker and he was collegiate Exy's new golden boy. He and Annabeth took up the mantle of being the strongest strikers in the game, and fans adored their dynamic. They were expected to lead the Spartans to championships last season, but Luke transferred over to their rival team, the Titans, midway through the year. The press and fans were rabid to uncover details about it, but both sides of the incident remained tight lipped and support of the Spartans steadily dropped. He strongly believed that the politics and drama that followed Exy was pointless, it was a _sport_ for gods sake, but he was curious to know exactly what went down to create such a huge shockwave.

His train of thought derailed as the car stopped, and the cabbie ushered him out. Olympus University did more than live up to its namesake. The stretch of the main campus was made up of marble and stone buildings with grandiose pillars and flamboyant domes. Someone had obviously poured a ton of money into making the place look pretty, and that alone was enough to make him want to run.

"Percy?" a gravelly voice questioned. He turned towards the man walking towards him. He was a couple inches taller than Percy, and he had a backpack slung over one shoulder and a grin plastered across his face as he clasped his shoulder "I'm Beckendorf, I'm here to show you around."

For the most part names had escaped him when he was researching the team, but he recalled this one. Charles Beckendorf was a junior and Olympus' best backliner. He looked absolutely terrifying in all of the game videos Percy watched, but his friendliness undercut any intimidation Percy would have otherwise faced. Beckendorf showed him around in good nature, wheeling him around to all the major buildings and pointing out the occasional interesting fact. Spending an hour roaming around the sprawling campus did little to ease Percy's culture shock. Everything was lush and polished, in complete contrast to the gritty urban atmosphere he was used to. Beckendorf assured him that the shininess would fade the second all the other students got back from summer break, but Percy wasn't sure he'd ever get used to it.

Finally, Beckendorf decided that he'd seen enough of the academic buildings and led him towards a large hill on the outskirts of campus. Beckendorf pointed out the athletic dormitory at the top, but Percy barely heard him. A couple hundred feet in front of the hill, was their Exy stadium. The building seemed much more practical than the rest of the university, made of white stone with a navy blue paint job. Like most stadiums, it was built to seat sixty thousand fans, and the idea of _him_ playing on this masterpiece was unthinkable. Percy was used to playing on repurposed soccer fields and makeshift gym floors. Seeing a full size court knocked the breath out of him. There were four parking lots for game nights, each set an equal distance from the court's perimeter. The expression on Beckendorf's face told him that his wonder was anticipated, as he was led inside the stadium. The university's somewhat tacky grecian theme was continued as Beckendorf quickly entered a code into the electronic keypad and walked him down a statue clad hallway to the lounge. The walls were plastered with team names and statistics, along with posters of new plays. Beckendorf nudged him when he noticed Percy staring.

"That's all Annabeth." he explained "She takes the whole _exy is about strategy_ thing pretty seriously"

"Where is she anyways? And everyone else for that matter?"

Beckendorf paused to rub one of the Spartan bobbleheads decorating the counter

"She does a couple summer classes throughout the week, and practices every minute in between." he said "Everyone else is sane enough to be on break, so you won't meet them for another couple weeks."

Percy chose not to comment on the fact that Beckendorf was included in this group of supposedly insane individuals, and decided that they had rallied enough small talk.

"So exactly what went down with Luke?" he made a point to make his tone nonchalant and directed his gaze away from his eyes. Beckendorf's posture stiffened and he took a couple seconds before answering.

"Annabeth's the only one with the whole story, and you sure as hell do _not_ want to mention that name to her." His tone was laced with warning, which surprised Percy. Beckendorf seemed relatively laid back and he wouldn't have figured that he'd be friends with Annabeth. "They don't really talk about their past with anyone that's not a close friend. There's way too big of a risk of it getting around to the press, and they'd be torn apart." Percy caught the underlying message to his words; _don't you dare tell_. But it didn't offend him, he only wanted his curiousity to be sated.

"Annabeth doesn't mind about her teammates knowing, she says she's grown past it."

Percy nodded in understanding.

"I'd never tell anyone. Even _she_ deserves her privacy." he reassured. That seemed to be good enough, because Beckendorf launched into an explanation.

"Luke's been here a year longer than I have, but he and Annabeth practically grew up with Chiron. I'm sure you've heard the stories, but most of them are wildly inaccurate. Annabeth ran away from home when she was seven, and she met Luke and this other girl, Thalia, after a couple of weeks. They bonded in a Boxcar Children-esque fashion, and spent a couple months running across the country." Most of this sounded familiar from interviews, but he had never heard about another girl. Beckendorf glanced around as if making sure Annabeth wasn't hiding behind a couch, prepared to take his head off.

"They were all scrappy and all that, but once they made it to Long Island, a couple of gang members caught up to them and probably figured they were easy targets." His tone was suddenly hushed and the solemn man in front of him was not the same one who showed him pretty buildings. "There was a fight, and all three of them got pretty banged up, but Thalia was the only one who didn't make it out."

Percy's life had never been sunshine and smiles, but the idea of this tiny blonde girl scrambling across the country and watching her friend get beaten to death tugged at some part of his soul he wasn't aware existed. He was aware that his voice sounded ragged and pitying with his next words.

"What happened next?"

Beckendorf rubbed at his jaw.

"Chiron lived out there back then, and found them. After he got them to the hospital, he fostered Annabeth and Luke until they were ready for him to adopt them. They both got into exy as sort of a coping mechanism, and have been wrecking the court ever since."

Percy didn't question it. Between the fire in her eyes as she questioned his dedication, to the dozens of plays that lined the walls, it was obvious that exy was way more than a sport to Annabeth. He had always seen it as his way out, in a much more physical sense, but he could understand how the adrenaline rush, the thrill of hitting your ball into the goal, could become therapeutic. What he didn't understand was why Luke wasn't by her side. They had obviously grown close, and the countless rumors about them dating were probably based in fact. Why would anyone want to leave that?

"So, why'd he transfer?"

" _That_ is the million dollar question. Like I said, I don't know much about what went down between him and Annabeth but she won't say a word about it. C'mon you should see the rest of the stadium."

It was quite obviously meant to change the subject, but Percy didn't mind. He was itching to get his feet on a real Exy court, against real players. Beckendorf smirked at him as he dug a key chain out of his pockets. They walked out of the lounge into another hallway, with two doors labeled _COACH_ and _ASSISTANT COACH._ Beckendorf had been quick to tell him about their coach, Mr. D, who he had labeled as a useless drunk. Chiron was technically their assistant coach but he took on all of Mr. D's responsibilities and more. Apparently the only reason Mr. D had the job was because his family pulled some ivy leagued strings after he washed out. Percy had already decided to make it a point to avoid him.

Further down the hallway, was a connecting tunnel to the stadium accompanied by steel doors. Beckendorf motioned for Percy to walk through them before him, and it was for good reason. The court was probably the most beautiful thing he had seen in his life. The glossy floors and shining plexiglass made him take back every time he hesitated about coming here. He heard the door swing shut to signal that Beckendorf had joined him, and attempted to rearrange his face into something less awed.

"So? What do you think of the Colosseum?" he asked as he leaned against the edge of the plexiglass.

"The Colosseum?"

"Y'know it's what everyone calls the stadium. It sticks with the whole greek thing, and someone always gets slaughtered."

"Sounds like a fun time. I can't wait."

Beckendorf laughed and opened the door to let them off the court and up into the closest seats. He unzipped the backpack he had thrown over his shoulder and pulled out a couple files.

"Annabeth says that I have to teach you the basics about the team before she'll speak to you." he explained

"Has she always been like this?" he asked. Beckendorf chose not to answer and instead motioned towards th goal.

"We've got twelve playersㅡ three goalies, four backliners, three dealers, and two dealers including you. Reyna's an offensive dealer, so she can sub in as a striker until you work up to playing full games."

Percy didn't know whether to be offended or relieved that Annabeth didn't think he had enough stamina to play an entire game, but he figured it was for good reason. He still didn't understand why Chiron didn't recruit more subs. Most exy teams had upwards of 25 players. With only 12 players on the line, the Spartans started of the season with a distinct advantage.

"Why don't you have more players?" he questioned

Beckendorf shrugged and leaned further into his chair "Chiron likes it better like this, and the ERC hasn't given us too much crap yet. It's more personal. It's family."

" _Right."_ His voice sounded disbelieving even to his own ears. The sentiment sounded nice and all, but everyone knew how cutthroat exy was. There was no way that a sane coach would advertise it as anything more than a team. Beckendorf had the good grace to not look offended.

"Summer practices don't start until June, so you've got a couple of weeks of drills with Annabeth before you have to deal with everyone else. That should give you enough time to get used to campus and sort out your classes before fall semester. You picked a major yet?"

Percy had barely thought about it. College seemed like such a far out dream, unattainable to the point that even thinking about a stable future seemed unnatural. He had absolutely no idea where he'd be on the other end of graduation. Beckendorf seemed to have deciphered the stricken look on his face, because he nodded in understanding.

"Don't worry about it. All your general freshmen classes will keep you busy 'til you figure it out. Besides, exy should be your concern as of now. Fall semester isn't for a couple of months. Annabeth is _now._ "

Percy had no opposition to that train of thought.

"Do you really think we have a shot? No one believes that you'll make it to championships this season. The NCAA might even demote you."

Beckendorf's eyes darkened as they flicked over to meet Percy's. "Yeah you _definitely_ should not be talking to Annabeth. Our line up and track record may not be flawless, but I have faith in it."

Beckendorf stretched out as he slipped out of his seat.

"Why don't I show you the gear closet? I'll take you through a couple drills too."

A spark of anticipation rushed through Percy's veins as he imagined playing exy again. The court was bathed in mid afternoon light, and he swore that the game had never looked so inviting as he followed Beckendorf through the plexiglass door.

* * *

A definite thud resounded throughout the court as Annabeth stick checked him for what seemed like the dozenth time in minutes. She had arrived at the dorm room he now shared with Beckendorf a couple hours before, and dragged him to the stadium with nothing but a couple of derisive glances. Surprisingly, she didn't say anything about his ratty exy stick when he pulled out Riptide. Instead, she delved into teaching him more drills, and working him to exhaustion.

While he had countless reservations about her as a person, he couldn't deny that she was an exceptional striker. She was almost too fast to keep track of, and every single one of her shots was well placed and faultlessly accurate. Her scathing comments on the other hand, he could do without.

"Focus, Jackson!" she snapped. He quickly jerked back to attention as she fired another ball at him, and he took a swing at it. Her face remained devoid of any approval when it landed firmly inside the goal. He had barely recovered by the time she flung another one, a couple feet above his head. This time he used the butt of Riptide to bounce it off the wall, and his rebound shot landed a couple feet away from the goal. Her accompanying scoff didn't exactly ease his flaring temper, but he forced himself not to react.

His legs were already quivering from the effort of couple hours of practice but beyond it all was a raw appreciation for the game. Annabeth twirled her racquet and fired a couple balls into the goal in the time it took him to recover, and he refrained from letting his awe show on his face. He refused to give her the satisfaction. He recalled the papers that decorated their lounge; the diagrams and equations, and he remembered something he had heard her say in an interview once. She didn't look at exy the way most people did. It wasn't about the adrenaline or the sharp satisfaction of getting around a backliner and taking a shot. Exy wasn't a game to her, it was an equation: something to be solved, to be mastered. He couldn't imagine being that calculating, but it obviously gave her an edge.

He scooped up another ball, and launched it. This time it hit the center of the goal, and he swore there was a flicker of approval in her face as the goal lit up red. He reached for another one, desperate for that expression to cross her features again, but she stopped him with a firm hand on his arm.

"God. No wonder you weren't drafted last year." her tone was acerbic and mocking, and he felt the growing tide of his anger wash over him. He stopped fighting it.

"Listen, Princess. I get that the bitchiness is part of your personality, and I'm supposed to pity you, but have you consideredㅡ" he stopped himself before he could do too much damage. Her grey eyes darkened as she stomped up to him. She stopped herself when she was an inch away from him, and his heart started pounding for reasons he suspected variated from the rage.

"The _only_ reason you are here is because _I_ thought you were worth something." she snarled into his ear "I thought I already made it clear that if you wanted to play with me, you had to play _for_ me. Don't let your attitude problem interfere."

Percy twisted his hands around Riptide, and focused on her breathing. He thought of puppies, fields of flowers, anything other than smug blonde athletic prodigies. He didn't return his gaze to her eyes until he was sure he'd be able to keep his anger in check. He figured she'd yell at him a bit more, and then go right back to exy, but instead she leaned against the plexiglass next to him.

"Look." her tone was a bit softer "If we fail this year, we will be demoted. If that happens during my first year as captain, I'll be taken as a joke and Luke will have beenㅡ" she cut herself off and ran her fingers through her ponytail.

He didn't respond, but something shifted in him as he took in her steely expression, never wavering even in the soft light of the setting sun. He flung Riptide over his shoulder as he headed to the center of the court, Annabeth behind him. He was ready for whatever this team would throw at him. He wouldn't fail.


End file.
